General and Special Education Are (and Should Be) Different

General education, regular education, or mainstream education are all designations used by educators to describe the basic, public education mandated for and offered to all children. General education is the education everyone and anyone get. It is the free, public, kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12), formal system of education, developed in the United States in the 19th century “on the belief that common schooling could create good citizens, unite society, and prevent crime and poverty” (Thattai, 2001, p. 1).